Free Web NovelThat afternoon, the wind was especially strong.
At exactly one o’clock, Vieya arrived punctually at the Butcher’s Blade Tavern. Standing at the entrance, Liufir was already waiting.
At this hour the tavern doorway was crowded, the air thick with the mingled smells of liquor and food, filled with chatter, arguments, and raucous laughter. Vieya frowned slightly and strode quickly toward the golden-haired girl anxiously looking around at the door.
“Why are you standing out here? Why not go in and rest with your teammates?”
The girl jumped at the sudden voice behind her, spun around, and flustered out an apology.
“Ah, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—I didn’t see you for ages. Because the first floor was packed, Acting Captain reserved a private room upstairs. I was afraid you might not find it, so I came down to wait for you!”
“Oh? That so?”
Vieya studied the timid girl before her, amused, and asked curiously: “How old are you, little one?”
“I... don’t be fooled by how young I look! I’m already twenty! A mighty magister. And, you can call me Liufir, like everyone else in Fairy’s Wings.” Liufir puffed her cheeks.
Vieya chuckled. “Alright, alright—Great Magister, quickly lead me in, then. Don’t let your Captain Luna wait too long.”
“J-just call me Liufir.” freёwebnoѵel.com
Liufir’s cheeks flushed. She hadn’t expected Sister Vieya, who looked so aloof, to tease her like this.
Becoming a magister was every mage’s dream. Liufir’s too.
Like students sitting exams, dreaming of the university they longed for.
But Liufir wasn’t sure she’d ever be that one-in-ten-thousand magister. As a “student,” her grades were hardly stellar.
If someone else had called her a magister, she’d have suspected mockery or scorn.
But Sister Vieya was so pretty, so gentle, so polite—she surely wasn’t the kind of malicious woman who would mean it that way.
With nerves tangled in her chest, Liufir led Vieya up to the second floor, to private room No. 2001.
Even before they reached it, Vieya could smell the heavy scent of alcohol seeping from the room.
Wow.
About to set out on a mission, and drinking like this already?
“Ohhh! Our new partner’s here! Everyone’s here—time to feast!”
The booming voice carried as soon as the door opened, loud enough to shake the whole tavern.
Oh, right. Almost forgot.
Private rooms like this had soundproof wards.
“Alright, alright, keep it down! Don’t let Miss Cleric think we’re a bunch of savages!”
Yuancherin’s voice was edged with annoyance. This guy...
She smoothed her mood with a deep breath, ran her fingers through her hair, and waved at the two in the doorway. “Hey, little Liufir, don’t just stand there. Bring our guest in.”
“R-right...”
Liufir looked cowed, which gave Vieya an odd sense of déjà vu—like someone long snake-bitten, still flinching at ropes.
“Since we still have a while before departure,” Luna finally spoke, satisfied after draining her mug, “let’s assign roles. Miss Cleric, we’ll also share what intel we gathered from Mount Aisa.”
So, Luna’s authority in Fairy’s Wings was strong. All of them respected her.
Realizing this, Vieya took the seat reserved for her, sat with ease, and lifted her gaze toward the now-serious adventurers.
Outside the tavern, the convent bells rang, right on time.
It was Lilian’s first day taking care of a child.
Perhaps because she remembered too well her own naughty, troublesome childhood, she had always kept her distance from children.
It was definitely not because she feared that once close, her secret stash of figurines at home would be forced into “shared” status.
Having her figurines discovered by a child? Unthinkable!
“Little Jasmine, your mama has business these days and can’t care for you. Here—this is your room. The bed, blankets, and pillows are clean and sterilized. Use them as you like.”
“And I’ll explain which places in the convent you can go, and which you can’t...”
Normally, this kind of thing should have been left to ordinary nuns, not the Saintess, part-time nun that she was.
But—
Every time Lilian remembered the way Vieya looked at her when leaving—those eyes, as if entrusting her with life itself, the solemn words of parting—she could only sigh.
“Oh, honored Saintess, I’ll leave my daughter with you for now. Her name is Jasmine. She’s obedient and gentle. She won’t trouble you.”
“Why not care for her yourself? If it’s a matter of money, I could privately arrange an interest-free loan for you.”
“Loan? Cough, no, better not. I don’t like owing people. If I didn’t suspect something in the city might be moving in the shadows, I wouldn’t trouble you. Just take it as I owe you a favor.”
“...Understood. But since you’ve come, I won’t refuse you. Rest assured—I’ll watch her until you return.”
“Then... thank you.”
The memory faded. Lilian’s eyes returned to Jasmine, clutching her black cat.
No choice—she had promised, after all.
And a promise given could not be handled carelessly.
So Lilian spent her midday break leading Jasmine around the convent to familiarize her with every corner.
It took two whole hours.
“I haven’t strolled around this convent like this in ages.”
Looking at the setting sun, then at Jasmine’s brow beaded with sweat, Lilian smiled with a trace of nostalgia.
“Little Jasmine, your constitution is too weak. Just like mine was, back before I underwent the Baptism of Holy Light.”
“Auntie, what’s the Baptism of Holy Light?”
“That?”
Lilian lowered her gaze, voice gentle. “It’s a ritual every generation’s Saintess must endure. Only those who withstand it can receive the title.
“The divine radiance purifies all worldly impurity in the body. It may hurt, but afterward your body is strengthened, and your affinity with the light element reaches its peak.”
“Does it hurt a lot?” Jasmine asked curiously.
Lilian nodded. “Yes. But unlike pain without reward, this pain lets you feel yourself transforming. You sense the heavy light element around you awakening, step by step, and moving toward you, drawn close.”
“So amazing...”
Jasmine breathed in awe, then lowered her head, stroking her cat’s ears. The delight in her tone faltered, dimmed.
“Auntie, do you think Mama doesn’t take me adventuring because I’m too useless?”
“...Eh.”
Lilian was caught completely off guard by the sudden turn.
They’d been chatting so well, and then—straight back to her mama.
But she could already see the girl, after hearing her explanation, sinking into self-doubt.
Because after all—wasn’t it that she’d finally found...
Was it because she had just reunited with her mother, only to be separated again after only a few days, that her heart felt such confusion and helplessness about the future?
Perhaps it was the years of serving as a nun here, often counseling others and untying the knots in their hearts, that gave Lilian the insight to catch hold of the root of Jasmine’s unease.
“Little Jasmine, is it that your mama once promised you she would always be with you, but now she isn’t by your side, so that’s why you asked that question?”
Jasmine blinked, raising her head, her big eyes full of big confusion: ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) “Ah?”
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Lilian slowly crouched in front of Jasmine and smiled. “Do you know? When Auntie was little, I was very mischievous. Back then, so many people said this world was doomed! That they must be blind! That the dignified Saintess turned out to be such a little rascal! They said the Saintess election was rigged, a private kitchen deal! That it should go back to the Tribunal to be re-verified and re-chosen.”
Jasmine stared at Lilian in surprise. “Then Auntie, were you very angry at that time?”
“No... what I liked most back then was watching those people fume at me, yet unable to do a thing.”
Lilian’s eyes curved into a pretty crescent moon. “Every day I strutted about before those people who couldn’t stand me, acting all high and mighty, kicking them now and then, spitting on them, just to see that expression of theirs—angry yet afraid.”
“......”
Jasmine swallowed hard, her mind filled with the thought: how could Auntie have been so bad when she was little!
But a new question sprouted in her curiosity.
If Auntie was that bad as a child, and now Auntie is so good... how did Auntie change?
“Ahem, but all that is past.”
Lilian shut her mouth in time, coughed twice, cleared her throat, and once again put on the image of the kind, strong, and steadfast nun in Jasmine’s eyes.
“Little Jasmine, I only said all this to tell you one thing—be brave, don’t be afraid. If you feel your mama dislikes you, thinking you’re a burden, then you must become strong!”
“But... I’m not talented like Auntie.” Jasmine pulled at her cat ears, sulking. “From the time I was born, everyone around me said I was a useless waste, mud that can’t stick to a wall.”
“Aiya, don’t bother with such nonsense.”
Lilian rapped Jasmine’s head with a scolding knock, producing a dong dong dong sound.
“I’ll just ask you this: do you want to learn magic?”
Jasmine covered her head, aggrieved. “But I don’t even recognize many words, and my hands and legs aren’t strong like normal people’s... I’m worried...”
“Magic only depends on your elemental affinity and your seriousness,” Lilian said. “Though I am curious what sort of species your father was, to actually be able to sire you with a monster girl—half-human, half-monster, and yet with no rejection at all of holy element... Uh, never mind. I’ll just say it straight. Do you want to learn magic or not?”
“Yes.” Jasmine only paused for a second, then lifted her head to meet Lilian’s eyes, her tone more serious than ever: “I want to learn magic, to protect Mama.”
